Great Disasters: A Novel

by Grady Chambers

For fans of Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, Great Disasters is a stirring debut novel about six young men coming of age, and the enduring friendships that make us who we are—even as our paths diverge.

In the early 2000s in Chicago, six young men start high school. Though they’ve been friends since boyhood, their high school years set them on new The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan begin, along with the protests against them; Ryan falls in love but struggles to hold onto it; and he and the others learn to lose themselves in alcohol. With each passing year—as they enter college or the military, then the world beyond; form new relationships with partners and children; and navigate shifting loyalties to a changing country—the narrator feels the group breaking further apart and finds himself asking, What does it mean to move forward, both with and without one another?

Exploring the beauty, hope, and humor that can be found even in moments of deep loneliness and devastation, Grady Chambers’ Great Disasters moves between memories of high school and early adulthood to consider friendship, first love, patriotism, protest, addiction, and more. An exquisitely written, profoundly moving debut novel, Great Disasters is an intimate portrait of disasters big and small, personal and political—and the ways the two are intertwined—and the announcement of a stunning new voice in American fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

Audible Audio

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Grady Chambers is the author of the novel GREAT DISASTERS (Tin House Books, 2025), and the poetry collection North American Stadiums (Milkweed Editions, 2018), winner of the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize.

His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, The Sun, New England Review, Joyland, and elsewhere. Born in Chicago, Grady attended Vassar College, received his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University, and is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing. He lives in Philadelphia.

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

We need more contemporary American novels like this. More with characters like these, adults from this generation, with inner monologues that aren't instantly accused of being "navel-gazing". More male protagonists who don't know if they've done the right thing, who drink too much but function, and are constantly questioning the pivotal moments of their lives and what if something else had been said, or done.

Not a perfect book, but a strong 4.5 stars. I admit that I wish that something more had happened, in some way or another. Especially if Graham had done something for himself rather than letting life wash over him. But I'm also glad that nothing catastrophic or over-the-top occurred, which would have been unnatural for the book.

Such small moments are the great disasters of life, not the Hindenburg or the Titanic, but instead those that have impact far exceeding what they seem.

Thanks to Tin House/Norton for the ARC.

[Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, the millennial masterpiece I’ve been waiting for.

[jenna danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

arc received from publisher via netgalley.

3.75!
this book truly captures the idea of the butterfly effect, which hit home for me. (i literally have a tattoo of it) although i was not in my formative teenage years during 9/11 & the events that followed, (i was just born at that time lol) this was still very thought provoking & emotional for me. i do think if you were a bit older than me, it would probably be a better read for you since you got to experience these events first hand.
this was mainly a character study of their friend group & it was told in a sporadic timeline which kept me invested. beautifully nostalgic writing even when covering such heavy topics. since this is pretty political, it covers a lot of topics like 9/11, iraq & afghanistan wars, protests, bush, trump, & biden’s administration. it also touches a lot on alcoholism, sobriety & mental health issues. the characters were well fleshed out & you really felt a part of the group while reading their story over the years.

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC provided by the publisher, but unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

The prose and pacing didn’t click with me, and while the story itself is clearly an important one, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. About a third of the way in, I decided to set it aside.

The writing often felt borderline pretentious, and while I can enjoy a vivid description of an otherwise ordinary moment, this book was essentially a collection of those passages strung together. It read more like a series of “one-liners” than a flowing narrative.

That said, I can see myself possibly revisiting it down the road—but not anytime soon.

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is special. I started reading it tonight and could not put it down until the very last page. I think we all look back at our childhood friendships and how they shape us. Some we keep in touch with others not so much.

The protagonist, Graham, is refracting on the what could have beens as big events are happening in the country. I feel a little sad for Graham. I wanted him to speak up more in key encounters, but understand how he let them pass him by.

I loved the way this debut novel touched me. I want to thank the publisher, Tim House, for an early copy of Grady Chambers’ novel. I highly recommend it. This review is voluntary and is solely my opinion.

[Kate Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story follows the main character Graham as he looks back on his life, specifically as it revolves around his childhood friends. He stayed in touch with most of them, but the childhood ‘ringleader’ joined the army, partially spurred by 9/11 has lost touch with him. I found this story very nostalgic and written with love. How quickly it can seem that those who know us best become those we barely know at all.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy what could have been, regret, and youthful friends that stay and those that don’t.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

[Ashli Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some disasters are loud. Others are friendships slipping through time. Six boys. One war. A thousand ways life broke them apart. This isn’t just a coming-of-age story—it’s a quiet gut punch about friendship, war, addiction, and what it means to grow up in America. Grady Chambers’ debut is haunting, tender, and unforgettable. 5 stars.

[Megan F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this arc through netgalley. I enjoyed this book, and, since I am an extremely nostalgic human, I felt great emotion in reading about the narrator’s youth and youthful exploit with his core group of friends. Though I feel I am, in almost all ways, miles apart from who I was as a teenaged girl in high school, I still remember those days with a piercing clarity and can pretty easily transport myself back. This was well written and evocative, and I appreciated the narrator’s honest questioning of himself and his actions, both in the past as well as in present day. The area in which my experience diverges from the of the protagonist is that, as he ages, he maintains many of his elementary and high school relationships. For me, time, distance, and lack of fundamental similar beliefs have led me away from many of the people I grew up with. I think that’s fine, there’s something beautiful to me about a person or persons being only a small and beautiful part of your formative years. However, I know that relationships like those portrayed in this novel exist, and it was soothing to read and discover that the protagonist still had so many of those relationships, that had grown, changed, and morphed over time. All in all, this was a poignant read that I’m glad I took on. I did particularly enjoy the author’s writing style!

[Hannah Zieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Congrats to Grady! I love knowing authors.

I liked this more than I expected - I’m not sure it was one I would have gravitated to if not for knowing Grady but I appreciated the centrality of friendship to the story, and while I do sometimes struggle with an insecure narrator I liked how he told the story of growing up (or not) and how the past can haunt.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

**4.5**

I absolutely loved this book and I am so impressed that it is the author's debut novel.

It was a beautiful and profound exploration of friendship, addiction and alcoholism, and the hardships of growing up in a complicated world. It's just about LIFE! My favorite part about this book was how accessible and realistic it is. I saw some early reviews on Goodreads that expressed how they wished "bigger" things or "more" happened in the book but I couldn't disagree more. It's fairly short so not point of it drags and although the book lacks huge tragedies or revelations, it's because that is sometimes how life is! "Great disasters" are really life's small tragedies.

I hope this book gets the love and hype it deserves. Thank you to Tin House Books and Net Galley for the ARC!

[Jesse Brunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swiftly paced and entertaining & rly beautiful writing. It's set after 9/11, and I thought the story on the whole was moving. One passage that I really liked, this from the beginning PALM SPRINGS section of the book which was my fav:

"Over spring break my junior year of college, I left Pomona and took a bus to Palm Springs to spend a week in the desert. Ostensibly I was there to do research toward my senior thesis.I’d written a paper on the way the Bush administration had sold the wars to the American public. It won a departmental prize, and with the prize came $3,000 that was supposed to give me the resources to expand the paper into a thesis.

It seemed great in theory, but the truth is I didn’t know what I was doing. The day I got the award, I sat across from my advisor in her cramped campus office while she talked like a speed addict about all these different institutes and specialized libraries I should use the money to travel to visit. I nodded along, pretending to jot down the name of one scholar or another as they streamed right by me into some future version of the paper I’d never successfully complete. The more I tried to expand it in the
months after that meeting, the more uncertain I became of what I was trying to say. Now the year was ending, I’d hardly spent a dollar of the prize money, and so I set up a few interviews with professors at UC Palm Springs, used some of the cash to buy a plane ticket for my girlfriend, Nina, and convinced her to fly in at the end of the week to join me in the desert for UC Palm Springs’ annual party, the Spring Fling.

But there was a hiccup. My mom bought a ticket from Chicago to come out to meet me. She told me she’d always wanted to see the desert, but I suspect now that she was worried about me, and wanted to see my face so she could determine just how worried she should be.

That semester I’d been kicked out of one dorm and was on probation in another. In the scope of things I hadn’t done any- thing all that serious: in broad strokes, my infraction involved drinking, a French maid Halloween outfit, and a failed sprint away from campus security (darkness, lawn ornaments). But where before I’d called my parents every Sunday to check in, the distance between calls had been steadily getting longer, and my mom wanted to see for herself what was going on."

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

In Great Disasters, a group of six teenage boys come of age during the early 2000s in Chicago. It follows them through their high school years, into adulthood, and is told from the perspective of one member of the friend group, Graham. The changes this group faces as they grow up, become adults, and start to discover who they are as individuals, is juxtaposed by the political instability of these years. It’s a very intimate portrait of this group of friends. They’re a rather privileged group, mostly the children of wealthy hippies, as Graham says, and this leads to interesting contrast where they have been brought up with progressive politics, but their worldview and their morals are really only half formed. So they’ll attend anti-war protests in the wake of 9/11, but they will also be casually cruel to each other and others in the way of teenagers who don’t really understand how their actions might impact others. I think it’s a very realistic portrayal, too, of how life can be consuming and everything else, including the global upheaval takes a backseat to relationship and friendship drama.

To me, however, the most compelling part and what really drew me in, was the way in which the friendship is depicted. The narrator describes them as a sisterhood at the beginning, not a brotherhood, because of how closely their lives became intertwined as teenagers. Other than the narrator and one or two of the other boys, none of the characters are particularly distinct. They behave almost as a monolith, but this doesn’t feel like an issue in the context, where everything they do and think feels linked. And then as they grow up and grow apart (for various reasons), as their lives start to separate and they become individuals, you can see the ways in which they have shaped each other, how even though they are no longer constants in each other’s daily lives the way they were as teenagers, they are forever and inextricably linked. Overall, this is just a really beautiful story of a group of friends, with fantastic writing and well-developed and compelling characters, which I thoroughly enjoyed.


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grady Chambers examines friendships over time in Great Disasters. The six boys meet young and form a tight bond when they go to high school in the early 2000s Chicago. Narrator Graham is particularly interested in Ryan, their handsome, reckless leader. Two of them play hockey. They all drink A LOT, raiding their parents' liquor cabinets and creating their own pond scum mixtures every weekend, to consume in the basement of whichever house the parents are absent from that weekend. We get to know Ryan well, the rest are much less defined.

Grady Chambers writes with a fervor, elevating the boys' drama to mythic levels that dominate Graham's adult life. It's just regular, naive, jostling high school boys doing dumb things, and the consequences they carry with them. In one page we might get three different time frames, as Graham recalls a story from high school, something a later girlfriend tells him, and his adult self wondering about things. It's a lot of reminiscing, pondering, bordering on navel gazing. It's not that profound. Graham was lonely, even when he was surrounded by his friends. Graham's loneliness and isolation (and drinking) are relentless. His facing it (except for the drinking) seems to be the point. And it's woven into recent history (9/11, the subsequent wars, etc.) as the story jumps in years past high school to the boys marrying, having children, building careers. And drinking. One minor disaster after another.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tin House | Tin House Books for the Advance Reader Copy. (pub. date 9/30/2025)

[Jonathan Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t give out five stars lightly—but this short, powerful novel earns every one.

I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review on my Goodreads page. This book is set to be released on September 30, 2025.

Told through the eyes of a narrator who weaves in and out of a close-knit group of high school friends from the early 2000s, the story moves fluidly between past and present, tracing the ways their lives evolved in the shadow of 9/11 and into our current political and cultural times. What unfolds is a deeply human, emotionally resonant exploration of friendship, identity, and the subtle forces and decisions that shape us across decades.

Full disclosure: I’m of the same generation as the characters, with a similar circle of friends from that era. That made the book especially poignant for me, but I firmly believe its themes will resonate with readers of any age. The writing captures universal truths—about growing up, drifting apart, and seeking meaning—that feel both timely and timeless.

This is the kind of book you can read in a single afternoon and walk away from feeling moved and affirmed. It’s beautifully done. I highly recommend it.

[Dylan Delich · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has struggled with addiction, I appreciated the way the author described and spoke on how small habits and then a bigger event often triggers those struggling into a downward spiral. While the narrator eluded to his issue, it told a story of real life, watching others get help and/or find sobriety while you continue to struggle. No one else's sobriety can get you sober, it must be for you. I wanted to know more about the friend group, as it mostly focused on Ryan and quick tales of all the others. I really enjoyed the way the author intertwined the flashbacks into his writing, blending them quickly into a storyline and then moving along. I wanted to learn more about each season of life the narrator went through, as it seemed very surface-level in order to move through time quicker than I would have wanted. Not a ton of character depth, just the narrator making observations and explaining idiosyncrasies picked up from these. This has much potential to be a tour de force, but everything just stayed a bit too high-level for where I wanted it to go. All in all, loved the storytelling and the author's voice, but would have loved a bit deeper dive.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel centered around a group of childhood friends and their lives as they grow older. I really enjoyed the characters in this book. It is told from the point of view of one of the friends and his observations of things that happen in their lives. While normally I enjoy multi-timeline novels, I thought this one jumped around a lot, without really indicating to the time you were jumping to. Alcoholism was really a center to almost every story told by Graham throughout the book, with sobriety and mental health factors as well. While those are all very important topics, I felt some of that was repetitive, but then maybe that was the point. Overall, I thought the book was heavy and I personally did not enjoy the politics brought into it, though I understand why for the story around one friend that ends up enlisting. I did enjoy following the characters throughout their lives, seeing the consequences of their actions, etc., but I felt like we need a prologue set 5 or 10 years later.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2-4 stars
In the early 2000's six young boys in Chicago are bound as brothers by a tight friendship. The narrator takes us on a journey to adulthood with all the scrapes, emotional bumps and relationship bruises along the way. Graham is the quiet observer and chronicles their mishaps which consist of a lot of drinking, partying and generally acting like teenage boys and young men usually do. He is infatuated with the golden boy Ryan and his relationship to his girlfriend Jana. Life is good until Ryan's and Jana's relationship seems forever severed. While Ryan enlists and goes off to the middle east war, the others seem to scatter across the country. Years later Graham still compares himself to the others by their career success, marriages, kids, roots and his lack of any of it. The writing is full of longing and introspection making it feel much like a memoir instead of a coming of age novel. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways and the publisher for this ARC.
I should have DNF'ed this book but felt I couldn't give an honest review if I didn't force myself to finish it.
The book claims to be about friendship and the ties that bind 6 young men. The only thing in common they have is excessive drinking (detailed on almost every page!) through high school, college days and young adulthood. There is no evidence that they have anything else that would bind them together. Extremely superficial people.
The narrative was disjointed, jumping around in time even from paragraph to paragraph.
Reading this book felt like being the only sober person at a party of pretentious drunks who spew vacuous stories that meander and have no end - but you can't leave.
Great disasters: the plot, the characters, the writing.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

​Great Disasters by Grady Chambers is one of those rare books that "hit so hard" I simply could not put down. ​It may be the fact that I am of the right age, but this book perfectly captures the feeling of a specific generation: those of us who grew up without social media, only to have it arrive during college, and who were in or entering high school during 9/11. The perspective aligns perfectly with that experience.

​The book beautifully captures those fleeting moments of life that you hold onto and remember. There's a powerful longing for adolescence that you feel as you age, and the book explores a profound truth: that shared moments and memories truly affect everyone involved in them differently. That insight feels as true as the ocean is deep.

​I thoroughly enjoyed this great, quick read. For the vibes and the introspectiveness alone, it’s an easy 5 stars. I really loved it.

[Cherryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review **

This debut novel offers a tender, beautifully observed coming-of-age tale that captures the essence of youth with quiet empathy. It's reminiscent of a lyric poem in prose form, heartfelt and reflective. Chambers’s background as a poet shines through every scene, giving the novel a gentle rhythm that lingers long after you’ve set it down. Its small cast of characters—six young men on the cusp of adulthood—is both intimate and deeply affecting. I found myself rooting for them, moved by the universality of their dreams and vulnerabilities. This is a book that feels like meeting a new friend who understands your hidden parts.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book feels more like a lightly fictionalized memoir than a novel. The narrator is an early middle aged man who is reflecting back on his youth growing up on the North Side of Chicago with a group of five other male friends. It explores how early drinking shaped their social lives, interactions and relationships, with many maturing, evolving and pursuing careers, families, marriage. Others struggle to find their place in the group, in society and use alcohol as a crutch. A key plot point refers around a prank that may/may not have changed the trajectory of a key relationship in the book. It's fine, not a must read -- but if you live in or know Chicago, you will enjoy the specific cultural references, sites and sounds of the City.

[Lennyn Arndt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have yet to read this book! However, I won it in a giveaway, so I thought it fair to give my unbiased first impressions -- because I like to do that sometimes, apparently. It's fun to look back to what my thoughts were before reading the novel and compare them with my thoughts afterwards.
Anyway! I don't have a whole lot to go off of so far, but from what I can tell, this is EXACTLY the kind of book I will adore. Some darker themes? Check. A montage-like style (insofar as I can tell)? Check. Some growth and change and memory? Check. This sounds lovely, and I'm so, so excited for it. I'll have to look back in the future and see if expectations match reality. I will update this review at that time.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Tin House for the ARC.

Chambers has penned a poignant view the life of a group of friends, writing primarily of their teenage years, but continued into adulthood. He has dealt with serious issues, such as alcoholism, self-identity and mental health.
Katz, the narrator, reflects on so many of the experiences of the teenage years - so much alcohol and the resulting behavior. As the group matures, he writes of the consequences of their previous the earlier actions. While his friends have moved on somewhat, he seems to be floating through is his life, still on the periphery.

Beautifully written this can lead to discussions on many diverse topics.

I look forward to reading his next novel

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was unexpectedly moved by the quality of the writing and the threads running through the individual lives of the characters. There was often a feeling of great unease as the binge drinking from junior high into their twenties afflicted most of this group of friends who slowly became strangers or followed more sober paths.

Our narrator, Graham Katz, turns 30 and seems to be in last place for a life with any meaning or purpose, as lost as a dim star behind a night cloud. For all that we could have learned, it's all come to this. Shouldn't we have done better?

Heartbreaking, familiar, and so well done.

[Jo Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is a thought-provoking and ultimately powerful novel about a group of teen-aged boys and their travels through life. Alcohol plays a major role in their lives, from high school through adulthood. Different events, from the seemingly insignificant youthful pranks to wars, politics, and personal relationships, influence their decisions and the paths they would follow.

As I was following the incidents portrayed by the narrator as he reflects on his life and actions, I began to think about our own decisions along the way, and how unpredictable events, both large and small, shape the course of our lives.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy for review. All opinions are my own. As a millennial, this was a really great book that I could relate to on so many levels. I’m the same age as the characters and lived through a lot of the same things. The nostalgia kept me reading chapter by chapter to see how the group of friend’s lives would play out and I found myself recognizing some of my own friends in them. I haven’t read a book this relatable and enjoyable in a really long time. What a great book I won’t soon forget.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy freaking balls this was incredible. Spoke to the author this evening and genuinely wanted to cry I wish that I could create something as beautiful as this book. Shoutout king and Vassar alum Grady Chambers. Thought the structure was beautifully written and allowed for perfect suspense that kept me hooked the whole way through. Loved the movie references. Really truly deeply resonated with the main character I am him he is me and if he is Grady Chambers then I am Grady Chambers I guess. Biggest thank you of all to goat Christine Vines.

[Ryan Brandenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This book truly surprised me! Contrary to my expectations, it turned out to be a slow-burn, in the best possible way!

I found myself deeply invested in these characters, and the writing was simply stunning. However, if you prefer a linear timeline, be prepared for a unique writing style. But trust me, it’s worth it. I highly recommend this book!

[Eloise H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intense and moving chronicle of six young men, from high school through adulthood, experiencing new relationships, marriage, parenthood, loyalties, alcohol abuse, mental illness, and trauma, amid wars in Iran and Afghanistan, and U.S. administrations. It was political, naturally, but I enjoyed it. Well-written, and a great new voice in literary fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for giving me the opportunity to read this galley.

[Paula Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate #Goodreadsgiveaways for the advanced copy of this book.

I just couldn't with this book. The characters are shallow, so much so that they are virtually indistinguishable from each other. What do they do? They drink. They also date and play hocky but even these are done around drinking.

Then the book gets political.

I see there were a lot of people who love this book, maybe it just wasn't for me.

#goodreadsgiveaways #GradyChambers #Greatdisasters #TinHousepublishing